Newspace Research seeks $35-40M Series C from 360 One, Avendus
Defence-tech startup Newspace Research and Technologies (NRT) is looking to raise $35-40 million in a Series C funding round, according to three people familiar with the matter. The raise is a mix of equity and debt, and the company is looking to close out the round by December.
Existing investor 360 ONE Asset has provided a term sheet, while a few family offices and Avendus are involved. Debt investors Trifecta Capital and Stride Ventures are only likely to go ahead once NRT secures the equity component.
NRT builds high-altitude, long-endurance (HAPS) drones designed to stay airborne for months at heights of 5-20 km, alongside AI-powered swarm drone systems built for defence and civilian use. The firm works in close partnership with DRDO, India's leading military research agency. In January, the company received an $18.6 million contract from the government to supply an undisclosed amount of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles.
NRT's revenue stood at $13.5 million in FY23, with a net profit of $154,000. In FY24, revenue stood at $765,000 and the company swung to losses of $5.6 million. In FY25, revenue climbed to $12.2 million, while losses rose to $7.9 million.
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“It's not necessarily their fault, because a lot of their contracts are with the government, and those payments haven't come through yet,” a person familiar with the matter said.
The round has faced difficulty because the company has been projecting ₹ 1,000 crore in revenue over the past three years to investors, but “the needle hasn't moved much,” according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
NRT is up against Anduril Industries and Shield AI, two American firms building AI-driven autonomous defence technology. In India, one of its larger competitors is Tata Advanced Systems.
Deeptech has seen overall deal value rise despite a drop-off in volume. So far this year, the sector has raised $2.4 billion across 213 deals, compared to $1.6 billion across 458 deals in the entirety of last year, according to startup intelligence platform Tracxn.
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